National Geographic History - 01.2019 - 02.2019

GASPAR DE GUZMÁN,COUNT-DUKE OF OLIVARES, THE

POWERFUL MINISTER OF PHILIP IV, IN A 1624 PORTRAIT

BY DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ. SÃO PAULO ART MUSEUM, BRAZIL

BRIDGEMAN/ACI

ordeal, he appeared in an auto-da-fé,

dressed as a penitent in a robe and

a conical hat. He received 100 lash-

es and was sentenced to serve in the

royal galleys.

ADramaticTale

But the inquisitors had not seen the

last of the self-styled magus. Helped

by forged documents, and—so he

claimed—the assistance of a noble-

man, the Count of Zabellán, Liébana

escaped.He remained free for a short

J

erónimo de Liébana was a

self-declared sorcerer, a claim

that repeatedly brought him

to the attention of the inquisitors,

who were ever attentive to any de-

viance from the path of orthodoxy.

Today Liébana might be regarded

as a conman,but his story reflects the

extent to which the dark arts were

deeply feared as a very real phenom-

enon in the 16th and 17th centuries.

This belief was found not

only in the general pop-

ulation but also in edu-

cated sectors of Spanish

society, including writ-

ers, clergymen, and

members of the

Inquisition.

Born around 1592 in south-

western Spain, Liébana lived an

itinerant life from a young age,trav-

eling around the Iberian Peninsula,

sometimes under the pseudonym

Juan Calvo. Sometimeduring his

travels, he was allegedly initiated

into the magic arts.

In 1620 Liébana was put on trial by

the Inquisition, which accused him

of holding black masses and distrib-

uting pieces of paper with“char-

acters” on them to make the

bearer invisible or win at gam-

bling.Twenty-nine people

testified against him at the

trial, during which he was

tortured on the rack.

Following this

1632

Jerónimo de Liébana

Clever Conman and

So-called Sorcerer

68 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019